I always thought it was the third derivative of position

Stratoscope 5 days ago | parent | next [-]

I like to use the example of being a passenger in a car.

• Position is where you are at any moment. If you're not moving, your position doesn't change.

• Velocity is how quickly your position changes. If you are doing 30 MPH on a perfectly straight road with no stops and starts, you may not even notice you're moving until you look out the window.

• Acceleration is how quickly your velocity changes. It's the force that makes you feel like you are being pushed back into your seat, for example when your velocity increases from 30 MPH to 60 MPH.

• Jerk is how quickly the acceleration changes. It's the force that makes your head snap back against the headrest. A good driver will change acceleration slowly to reduce this effect. If there is too much jerk, it may mean that your driver is being a jerk.

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scyzoryk_xyz 5 days ago | parent | next [-]

Both of these took some time to get there for me but maybe that's because I'm a jerk

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eclectric 5 days ago | parent | prev [-]

The next level i.e., rate of change of Jerk is called Jounce. However, I'm afraid I don't know how that would be described in car passenger's terms in your example.

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dalke 5 days ago | parent | next [-]

I personally prefer snap over jounce, as that gives the progression snap, crackle, and pop.

See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fourth,_fifth,_and_sixth_deriv...